When Brazilian submission ace Rousimar Palhares
steps into the cage against Nate Marquardt in the
main event of UFC Fight Night 22, he’ll be competing in perhaps the most
high-profile contest of his career.
But don’t for one minute believe that the Spike TV-broadcast bout is the toughest fight of Palhares’ life.
No, the UFC middleweight contender’s biggest struggles came well before
he ever set foot in the octagon – when a 10-year-old Palhares and his
brothers and sisters worked 13 hour days on Brazilian
plantations while (usually) making just enough money to live just
slightly more luxuriously than the animals to which they tended.